Best Minecraft Shovel Enchantments

Upgrading your shovel doesn't stop at turning it into Netherite. Through adding enchantments, a Netherite shovel can be turned into a virtually indestructible powerhouse of a tool.

Best Enchantments for a Shovel in Minecraft

When enchanting a shovel, there are a few important things to look at: durability, efficiency, and required materials. Two of the enchantments cover durability, the next efficiency, and the final two are optional depending on your goals. If you whack zombies while you gather dirt and make paths, you could add an offensive enchantment too. However, these five enchantments are all you need to make your shovel the best it can be.

Mending

Mending is an enchantment that I recommend as the first upgrade you add to any piece of gear. It restores an item's durability using experience points instead of an anvil and specific materials. This is especially important for Diamond and Netherite gear, which cost Diamonds and Netherite Ingots to repair.

Unbreaking III

After adding Mending, putting Unbreaking on your shovel will bring it to a virtually indestructible level. Gear with this enchantment has a chance to avoid losing durability when it is used, essentially increasing the durability of the item. Unbreaking I doubles the durability, Unbreaking II triples it, and Unbreaking III quadruples it. A Netherite shovel with Unbreaking III would have over 8,000 uses before its durability hits 0.

Efficiency V

The Efficiency enchantment increases the mining speed of the item it is attached to. This only works for the blocks the item is intended to mine. On a shovel, the mining speed would increase for blocks like sand and dirt, but not for wood or stone. Like with Unbreaking III, I recommend jumping straight to Efficiency V from the start. It will take longer to get, but will save you resources and time in the long run.

Related: Best Minecraft Crossbow Enchantments

Silk Touch

Silk Touch allows you to mine blocks like Grass and Mycelium as-is rather than receiving dirt. I typically keep two shovels, one with Silk Touch and one without, because you never know what blocks you're going to need to gather. When I need a lot of regular dirt, I leave the Silk Touch at home. In contrast, gathering a lot of Podzol means my Silk Touch shovel is there with me.

Fortune III

Fortune is definitely more of a pickaxe enchantment, but it is worth it on a shovel if you need a lot of flint. Using a Fortune III shovel will give you a 100% drop rate for flint when mining a block of gravel.

For more enchanting Minecraft guides, check out our All Minecraft Hoe Enchantments on Pro Game Guides.